Odisha Forest Department reports death of 25 peacocks and other birds

forest officials have issued warning among villagers and have instructed them to inform officials as soon as they see another such carcasses of birds. Any such further death will strongly suggest of bird flu outbreak and Madhavpur village is near Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary and effect of outbreak on birds in the sanctuary will be immense; loss of life is unthinkable.

Forest officials in Odisha are puzzled as they encountered deaths of 25 peacocks (national bird) along with pigeons, crows, sparrows and other birds in forests of Madhavpur Village located in Khurda district. The reason for so many mysterious deaths in large numbers within short time span is unknown yet and officials are waiting for the Autopsy report to know the exact cause of death. In addition, the mysterious deaths have raised the doubt of bird flu outbreak in the region.

According to the reports, in the morning villagers go into the forests but on Tuesday morning they found a small pack of birds lying dead near a small water body, soon after villagers informed the forest department about the shocking death. Forest experts collected all the birds and sent it to National Institute of High-Security Animal Disease in Bhopal for confirming the exact cause of death.

No signs of external poisoning were found in the bird, also cutting of paddy crop has been completed in the surround regions that also rules out any unintentional poisoning of birds, said Akshaya Patnaik, Divisional Forest Officer for Khurda Forest Division. He further added that this hint towards the swine flu outbreak that would be very dangerous as seen in previous years. As of now, experts haven’t ruled out any possible outcomes and they are preparing for the worst possible outcomes.

Patnaik said that forest officials have issued warning among villagers and have instructed them to inform officials as soon as they see another such carcasses of birds. Any such further death will strongly suggest of bird flu outbreak and Madhavpur village is near Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary and effect of outbreak on birds in the sanctuary will be immense; loss of life is unthinkable. To monitor the situation, Chief Conservator of Forest (wildlife), OUAT along with other experts will pay a visit to the forest on Wednesday.